


Inflation Plan

by mavjade



Series: Descendents [6]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Donna and Josh aren't physically present in the story but they are there, Family, Fluff, Gen, Humor, The secret plan to fight inflation never goes away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 08:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13632855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mavjade/pseuds/mavjade
Summary: It's Leo Lyman's first day in the Oval Office and while his dad might not be there to see it, his presence and his love is always with Leo.Part of the Bri-and-Mav's Future West Wing 'verse, but can stand on its own. See the series page for character info.





	Inflation Plan

**Author's Note:**

> I went to Puerto Rico as a member of a medical assistance team right after Hurricane Maria and wrote this on the plane after being awake for waaay too long. I blame sleep deprivation for this.

Leo sat down behind the Resolute Desk to start his first full day in office. It wasn't the first time he'd sat behind the desk as President, he’d sat in the same place yesterday afternoon with his best friend and Chief of Staff, Josie Seaborn, along with one of his oldest friends and Vice President Elvie Santos. He had wanted to start the administration off with the two of them at his side, so he refused to go into the office until they could all do it together. At that time the desk had been completely clear, the table behind him empty. The room was decorated with a beige carpet with the seal of the president in the middle in only a slightly darker color and beige couches. It had lacked any physical character.  
  
The office itself had plenty, Leo couldn’t help but think about the men and women who had occupied the position before him and all of the people who helped those presidents get where they were. They felt like giants to him, and he hoped he could live up to the legacy that had been left for him.  
  
Now as he sat alone waiting for his advisors, the room had much more personality. Overnight the pictures of his husband and children had appeared on the desk. A picture of his parents at a former presidential inaugural ball, all dressed up and smiling at each other sat on the table behind, along with a picture of his entry family. The carpet was a deep blue with the presidential seal in the middle in full color. Around the outside were the words of former president Josiah Bartlet  _“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”_  Leo had chosen those words because he felt that President Bartlet -his Grandpa Jed- was the reason Leo was currently occupying the office. It had been his campaign where his parents met and his administration where they'd fallen in love, even if it took them many years to figure it out.  
  
Two plush couches sat on either side of the fireplace with a portrait of George Washington hanging over it. The couches were a deep grey with blue and red pillows. The table in between the couches held a bowl of apples and pears.  
  
It was as he’d always dreamed; it mirrored the Oval Office that he remembered and loved from his childhood when he would run into the room -from his dad’s office right next door- to talk to his President Uncle Sam, but also had touches that were all his own.  
  
There was a knock at the door pulling him out of his thoughts about the past when the staff began to enter the room. “Good morning Mr. President,” they all said.  
  
Leo replied, “Good morning” to each of them and wondered when he would stop wanting to turn around and look for someone else when they addressed him.  
  
The door from the Chief of Staff’s office opened and Josie strolled in with a satisfied smirk on her face. “Good morning Mr. President,” she said as she handed him a blue file folder. “I was asked to make sure you received that first thing this morning.”  
  
A blue file meant what was in the folder was not top secret, and he was free to look at its contents with his staff around. Leo opened the folder, the top sheet appeared to be the standard bill introduction, but once he read what it actually said, he began to laugh.  
  


 

  
**“For immediate consideration, Office of the President of the United States. A Secret Plan to Fight Inflation”**

  
  
  
  
There was a yellow post-it note at the bottom which read, “ _Read the rest after the meeting.”_  He recognized his mother’s familiar scrawl and knew the note was from her.  
  
“It seems,” Leo said to his staff who were looking at him curiously after his outburst of laughter, “that our first task is on the economy…”  
  
“Sir,” his Deputy Chief of Staff interjected, “I thought we were going to begin with immigration and a national safety net?”  
  
“This won’t take long.” Leo hoped this little bit of levity would help his staff relax. They’d all been friendly and jovial until he’d been elected and now they were a bit more tense. The office only seemed to add to that atmosphere. “The first thing we’re working on is a secret plan to fight inflation.”  
  
Leo had no idea if any of his staff would understand the joke. It was something from long before he was born, but it was famous in his extended family. He just hoped his team knew he was, in fact, joking.  
  
“Wait, I think I’ve seen this,” his Press Secretary said. “It’s something that they show as a what not to do in front of the press.” She pulled out her phone and quickly typed in ‘secret inflation plan.' Instantly she had the video and projected it onto the wall so everyone could see it.  
  
A somewhat grainy image of a man standing behind the podium at a press briefing appeared. There was some discussion back and forth between the man and various reporters when one of the reporters said,  _“Is the reason you won’t tell us about it is because it’s a secret?”_  
  
The man at the podium smiled and said,  _“Yeah Danny, we have a secret inflation plan.”_  
  
The entire Oval Office erupted in laughter, including Leo who had seen the clip many times. They laughed and joked about it for a few moments until one of them noticed the name at the bottom of the screen. “Wait, that says Joshua Lyman. Is that…”  
  
“My dad?” Leo interrupted. “Yes. When he was Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bartlet.”  
  
“Wow, that really  _is_  what not to do,” the same staffer replied.  
  
“Yep, and my dad never lived it down, at least not in our family. But it just goes to show you that we will make mistakes and things won’t always go our way. But we can move on and do our best for the people of this country. We can have fun, this is a serious job, and there isn’t anything I take more seriously, but we don’t always have to take  _ourselves_  seriously. If you don’t have fun sometimes, you aren’t going to last long. So relax, be silly, have fun. Just please don’t do it in front of the press.”  
  
The staff smiled and nodded their heads. They seemed to be more relaxed and more like themselves, which Leo counted as a win. “Now, in the immortal words of my Grandpa Jed, ‘What’s Next?’”  
  
\- - - -  
  
At the end of a long first day, Leo sat alone in his office and his mind turned to the folder he’d been given that morning. He sat down at his desk and opened the folder, chuckling at the top sheet once again before setting it aside. Below was a letter handwritten by his mother:  
  


 

 

 

_My dearest Leo,_

_I could not be more proud of the man you’ve become and the President I know you’ll be. You are kind, caring, but also strong and determined. I think more than your brother and sister you are an equal mix of your father and me (someone had to get the trivia gene after all) and I hope that those traits will serve you well._

_I’ve watched many people occupy the office you now have, so I know there will be times that the fight seems too difficult and the cost too high. You’ll have to make decisions that I could never dream of making and I know you’ll bear the burdens with a heavy heart. Rely on your staff because they are there to help you make the hard choices, but especially rely on Josie and Elvie as friends will often be hard to come by. Let them take some of the burdens for you. Let them share not just in the triumphs but in the setbacks and failures as well._

_Let your father’s secret plan to fight inflation remind you that mistakes happen and you learn from them. Let it remind you to have humor in the things that might otherwise make you angry. But let it also remind you every day that your father would be so proud of you. It was the joy of his life that you loved politics just as much as he did, that you wanted to serve the people of this country. But as much as he loved politics, he loved you and Abi and Noah more._

_There will be times when your job is more critical than dinner or bedtime, but don’t forget that_ everything  _isn’t that important. Make time for yourself. Make time for Marc and the kids. Make time for your friends. Forgive yourself the mistakes you’ll make, forgive others for theirs._

_But above all stay true to who you are and you’ll serve the people well. And remember that you may be President of the United States, but you are still my baby boy._

_Love always,_

 

_Mom_


End file.
